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Liptovsky Mikulas
 Located in
north-central Slovakia, Liptovsky Mikulas, a compact city of 32,000,
is surrounded by mountains, the West, Low, and High Tatras. It has a
pleasant
Old
Town
with shops, restaurants, and a fine art museum. Liptovsky Mikulas is
a center for outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, skiing,
and cycling.
The Evangelical Gynmasium Jura Janou
The Evangelical Gymnasium Jura Janou opened in 2001 with a first-year
class and is adding one class each succeeding year. In the school
year 2005-2006, the school had two American volunteers as well as
Slovak teachers of English. They are asked to teach English
conversation, Realia (history and culture of English speaking
countries, especially
Great Britain and
the United States), and content area subjects (if it is their
field of study)
in both the 5-year bilingual program and the 8-year gymnasium
program. Moreover, they are asked to cooperate with Slovak teachers
who teach content area subjects bilingually by giving assistance in
English vocabulary. American teachers share school duties (lunch
duty, hall duty) with Slovak teachers and participate in weekly
staff devotions. A normal teaching load for American teachers is
20-22 hours/week.
The New Maturita (National comprehensive graduating exam)
In 2005, the Slovak
government standardized all graduating exams in high school
subjects, including English. As such, the Gymnasium in Liptovsky
Mikulas utilizes their American volunteers to teach extensive
year-long conversation classes. The new Maturita exam for English
language requires students to know specific vocabulary, dialogue,
description and basic comprehension in 25 topics (such as food,
multi-cultural society, family, mass media, health care, etc.). The
American teachers spend their time in classrooms facilitating
conversation among students in these specific areas, developing
their speaking and writing skills to prepare them for the
comprehensive graduating exam in their final year.
 The
volunteers in Liptovsky Mikulas live in a duplex a few blocks from
the school. They are more isolated than the teachers in
Bratislava or
Kosice, but have Slovak colleagues who speak English and have
regular opportunities to meet with the other American teachers in
Slovakia.
Links
Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia
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